This invention relates to jacketed open kettles. In particular, it is a jacketed open kettle with an agitator for heating and mixing fluids, especially viscous fluids. It is of particular use for heating and pouring soup and confectionery products.
Many applications call for the use of open kettles for mixing viscous fluids. When it is desired to tilt such open kettles to extract the viscous processing fluids therefrom, then a powered agitator in such a kettle may present an obstruction to be dealt with. An earlier example of an approach to such a problem is given in Savage, U.S. Pat. No. 499,890, entitled "Apparatus for Operating Confectionery Kettles". This patent teaches a confectionery kettle on a trunnion mount for pouring. An agitator system in the kettle is driven from the top by a gearing arrangement that includes a pair of spur gears. The gears are disengaged when the kettle is tilted, and they are returned to engagement when the kettle is restored to its upright position. Two particular problems with this structure are the exposure of the gears when the kettle is tipped and the fact that the agitator cannot be driven when the kettle is in any position except its vertical position.
A second approach to the problem of making a tiltable kettle with a driven agitator is sometimes used in mixers for bread dough and in soup kettles. This is to mount an agitator drive to the top of the kettle by a spider or the like with an electric motor fixed in position to drive the agitator. The electric motor is then tilted along with the kettle to pour substances from the kettle. This arrangement has two disadvantages. One is the fact that such an exposed motor needs shielding for use in any application involving food in order to protect the food from contamination. In applications that do not involve food, the motor must still be shielded to protect operators from unwanted contact with the motor and associated speed-reduction gears and the like. The weight of the motor and its shielding leads to a second disadvantage, which is that the kettle tends to be top-heavy.
Another approach to providing a tiltable agitated kettle for soup, fudge and the like is to support an agitator mechanism in the kettle by a spider or equivalent device that is connected to or rests on the upper lip of the kettle, and to have a drive mechanism that can be swung into engagement to drive the agitator and lifted clear to free the kettle for tilting. This has the disadvantages of a certain amount of complexity in operation and also of making it impossible to agitate the fluids that are being poured from the kettle.